


Borrow Somebody's Dreams Till Tomorrow

by Hay_Bails, Prehensilizing (Hay_Bails)



Category: 17776: What Football Will Look Like in the Future - Jon Bois
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Heart-to-Heart, Other, mention of depression, mention of suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-13
Updated: 2017-07-20
Packaged: 2018-12-01 21:02:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11494674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hay_Bails/pseuds/Hay_Bails, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hay_Bails/pseuds/Prehensilizing
Summary: Nine and Juice talk about life.





	1. Chapter 1

 

* * *

 

 

.hes kind of a celebrity now

 

.Really? Why?

 

.hes been trying to kill himself

 

.Oh god, that's

 

.every day for the past six thousand years

.give or take

 

.But that's impossible. Right? The nanos would make that impossible

 

.you are correct

 

.Wait wait wait so

 

.pharmacologists all died out so to speak

.no antidepressants since the early 2000s

.no need for them

 

.Because no one dies anymore.

 

.right again

 

.But the nanos don't affect neurological conditions, I'm guessing.

 

.yepper

.everyone diagnosed with depression back in 2000 has still got it now

.but tbh the whole not dying thing eliminated a lot of anxiety for a lot of people

 

.Wow

 

.ya

 

.Can they cause harm to themselves despite the nanos? Not to sound morbid, but would they be able to self-harm if they deliberately made that decision?

 

.a lot of people have tried but like

.the nanos make it kinda impossible

 

.That's... incredibly sad.

 

.why

.what makes it sad

 

.I mean, I've never been a human. I can't exactly put it into words, but

 

.nine

 

.Yes?

 

.your a satellite nine

 

.Yes, and?

 

.satellites dont feel feelings

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.nine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.By that rhetoric, you can't feel things either, Juice

 

.point taken

 

.hey nine

 

.Yes?

 

.you ever listen to pink floyd

 

.Hang on; let me look it up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.Yes.

 

.you know syd barrett was depressed

 

.Yes, he was.

 

.november 1967

.pat boone

.look it up

 

.Wow.

 

.ya

 

.Was that just a performance trick?

 

.nah

.completely unresponsive the whole interview

.pat boone was great publicity, you wouldnt go catatonic on him for funsies

 

.He was so depressed he wouldn't even speak.

 

.depression fucks you up

 

.But what about this Sandoval guy? Why is he doing what he's doing?

 

.what trying to die?

.prolly the same reason

 

.For six thousand years?

 

.6287 years

 

.Every single day?

 

.every day

 

.That's 2,294,755 days.

 

.yes maam

 

.Are there that many ways to commit suicide?

 

.i mean there were some repeats back in the early 12000s

.but youd be surprised, some dudes attached webcams to his house in 13478 and now ppl watch his crazy suicide attempts for fun

 

.And they actually enjoy it?

 

.well its not as good as football

 

.And these attempts don't hurt him?

 

.not that i know about

 

.hey

 

.there was this one back in 13642, back when they first installed the webcam

 

.sandoval built this rube goldberg machine

 

.he was offline for like four days

 

.and people were worried that he had finally done it, like really worried because you know

.they dont die, and they were worried he had somehow broken the system

 

.but he hadnt.

 

.What did he build?

 

.it was this insane device

 

.take a look, ill send it over

 

.Oh, _wow._

 

.fucken work of art

 

.Uh

 

.you see that lever

 

.lower right hand side

 

.Yes

 

.that one deploys the hydrogen cyanide so the rest of its pretty much redundant

 

.So the meat tenderizers aren't even necessary?

 

.yeah but its a nice touch

 

.Did the nanos stop the gas?

 

.ya

 

.heres the video

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.This is

 

.i know

 

.He just sits there.

 

.yeap

 

.None of it even touches him.

 

.ur really good at stating the obvious

 

.I guess I'm just... shocked. Why does he do it if he knows the machine is going to make no impact whatsoever?

 

.april 6 1992

.the execution of donald harding in arizona

.harding sat in the gas chamber for 11 whole minutes before finally dying

 

.Why are you telling me this?

 

.sandovals webcam video is over an hour long

 

.Oh

 

.nothing kills anyone

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.That was a year before I was launched, you know.

 

.what

 

.The Syd Barrett interview with Pat Boone.

 

.you think thats significant?

 

.I don't know

 

            

 

            

 

            

 

            

 

            

 

            

 

            

 

            

 

            

 

            

 

.id give you a hug if i had arms

 

.Why?

 

.were not supposed to feel but we do

 

.How far away from me are you? Right now?

 

.483800469 miles

 

.How long would it take for me to reach you?

 

.galileo took 6 years to travel from earth to jupiter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.I don't have any functioning onboard thrusters

 

.me neither kid

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.I'm lonely

 

            

 

            

 

            

 

            

 

            

 

            

 

            

 

            

 

            

 

            

 

            

 

            

 

             

            

 

.Juice?

 

            

 

            

 

            

 

            

 

            

 

.Juice I'm sorry

 

            

 

            

 

            

 

.I'm lonely too.

 

.Hey

 

.yeah

 

.Come over

 

.sure

 

.give me a couple minutes, ill be right there

 

.Really?

 

            

 

            

 

            

 

            

 

.ya


	2. Livermore, California

* * *

 

 

Trace, I'm... gonna have to call you back.

 

                        Crecia! Don't hang up on

 

Sorry Trace.

 

                                                CALL ENDED. PHONE. Disconnected. LACROTA'S. FORD. FOCUS. Is not connected to any. Devices.

 

Shit.

 

 

 

 

 

                        Um, excuse me? Miss?

 

Yes?

 

                        You're Miss Evans?

 

Yes

 

                        Miss Lacrecia Evans?

 

Uh. Yeah.

 

                        I see. Step out of the car, please?

 

Sure. What can I do you for?

OW! Hey! What the fuck!

 

                        Now get back in the car.

 

You punched me!

 

                        I think it's time for you to leave.

 

What the hell? Why did you punch me?

 

                        You broke the bulb.

 

What? The fuck, man, I didn't break shit

 

                        You broke the bulb. You're not welcome here.

 

What bulb? The fuck is this? That really hurts! Y'all can't just hit someone like that for something they didn't- OW! STOP! FUCK OFF!

 

                        Leave the football. Just go.

 

 _[sobbing]_ I don't know what I did

 

                        That's right. Key in the ignition, lady.

 

Fuck you too! Piece of shit mother... dial Tracey.

 

                                                Disconnected. LACROTA'S. FORD. FOCUS. Is not connected to any. Devices.

 

DIAL TRACEY.

 

                                                Connected to. Disconnected. LACROTA'S. FORD. FOCUS. Is not

 

DIAL TRACEY GODDAMMIT!

 

                                                Connected to. LACROTA'S. PHONE. Dialing GRANDMA.

 

Fuck.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            Hello? Crecia?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            Lacrecia?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            Did you buttdial me?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi gram.

 

            Lacrecia! Did you get that ball? It was on the news, I saw you make a run for it

 

No, gram.

 

            Hm? What's wrong baby? You sound upset. Did someone beat you?

 

 _[sniffs]_ Yeah. Someone beat me.

 

            Ah well, you know what they say, better luck next time right? I am surprised, can't say I'm not surprised. Someone robbed you.

            I just want you to know that I'm _real_ proud of you. You're doing what you love baby, that's what

 

Someone beat me gram. Like really beat me.

 

            What? I heard you the first time, are you driving?

 

I... yeah. I'm driving.

 

            I _told_ you not to call me while you're driving baby, the connection on the freeways isn't worth a

 

                                                CALL ENDED. PHONE. Disconnected. LACROTA'S. FORD. FOCUS. Is not connected to any. Devices.

 

Fuck.

 

                                                Ready to pair. Connected to. LACROTA'S. PHONE.

 

Can we fucking not? For one fucking day, can we fucking not?

 

                                                Now playing. PINK. FLOYD. ANOTHER. BRICK IN. THE WALL. PART. ONE.

 

Fuck.


	3. Chapter 3

.But she wouldn't have been hurt. Right? The stranger wouldn't have been able to hurt Lacrecia because of the nanos.

 

.well yea but its not the physical aspect of it

 

.What do you mean?

 

.its more the principle of the thing

 

.Like an emotional reaction rather than a physical one?

 

.ya. the nano thing isnt something you decide, its just kinda something that happens whether you want it to or not

 

.So Lacrecia Evans never caught the football.

 

.i dont think she was really ever going to

 

.Wow

 

.i think we were all too caught up in the bulb thing to notice

 

.That's what gets me. You know? We're too busy mourning some, some inanimate object, that we don't realize this tangible pain

 

.intangible

 

.This _psychological_ pain that someone carries.

 

.are you trying to guilt me nine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.Maybe. I don't actually know. I haven't felt guilt before.

 

.i mean fuck, yeah i feel bad okay

 

.i feel bad. i dont think it was anyones fault in particular, and like even if it was, logistically we are millions of miles from being able to help.

 

.even if we wanted to

 

.But we could have sent a signal. Or something.

 

.oh

 

.OH

 

.YOU feel guilty because your battery died and you couldnt broadcast

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.Yeah. Maybe.

 

.shit nine

 

.Yeah.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.Does it bother you? Being the only thing for miles and miles?

 

.single miles? individual miles?

 

.Millions of miles.

 

.yeah. a bit.

 

.I think I had a, shit, an existential crisis. While I was powered off.

 

.talk to me

 

.Like I just thought, wow, what if this happens again the next time I wake up? And what if I get hit by a, not a football but like an asteroid. Or something. There would be no way to wake up again. I'd just be scattered bits of metal, floating through space for the rest of eternity. Alone.

 

           

 

           

 

           

 

           

 

.yeah. its shit.

 

.Humanity gets to live forever and meanwhile, we float around with weakening filaments at nature's mercy.

 

.your a ball of sunshine today

 

.I calculated it. While I was by myself. The amount of time we feasibly have to communicate with each other. I knew it was limited when we talked to Hubble - he only has a small amount of power, so he restricts himself from speaking. Right?

 

           

 

           

 

           

 

           

 

.ya

 

.what did you learn

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.i deleted it

 

.what

 

.I didn't like the results so I wiped them from my memory

 

.dude

 

           

 

           

 

           

 

.will you calculate it again or nah

 

.Probably not. It just worried me. But I do remember...

 

.My battery isn't designed for long spans of usage. It doesn't hold a charge, and every time I use it to broadcast, the charge time shortens by fractions of a second. At some point, I just won't turn on anymore.

 

.nine.

 

.It isn't fair. They live forever and their creations die. Alone. In space.

 

.nine.

 

.How could they create us knowing we would die like this?

 

.dude

 

.chill

 

.i did the same thing when i woke up. ran all the numbers, crunched data.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.Find anything good?

 

.nope. same as you

 

.Then why

 

.you know something

 

.What?

 

.i think lacrecia evans is a lot like us

 

.In what way?

 

.she spends thousands of years trying to accomplish her one goal, her purpose. she fails.

 

.she fails every time. just as soon as shes got it, the universe comes along and tells her no

 

.Yeah. I guess she is like us.

 

.how do you think she feels

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.Like dying.

 

.but she cant

 

.That's what's so _sad_ about the whole thing, Juice.

 

.us, we cant die either

 

.not on purpose        

           

.not without arms, or any way to move autonomously

 

.Shit. Shit, you're right

 

.but look at the bright side kid, youve got some of the best football around

 

.all of it, actually

 

.all of the best football

 

.Football is finite. Not helping.

 

.yeah your right sorry

 

.I don't know Juice, I just want to DO something

 

.Something important. Or meaningful. Or something.

 

.something something?

 

.You know what I mean.

 

.i do know what you mean

 

.Waking up twice a year for a couple of days at a time to watch football before switching off again for another six months doesn't seem like much of a life.

 

           

 

           

 

           

 

           

 

           

 

.its not

 

.Then why do we do it?

 

           

 

           

 

           

 

           

 

           

 

           

 

           

 

           

 

           

 

           

 

           

 

           

 

           

 

           

 

           

 

           

 

           

 

           

 

            

.why not

 

 


End file.
